Severus Snape and Lily Evans  Through Hogwarts
by Ms.Snape1504
Summary: A story of Snape and Lily's life through Hogwarts, from Snape's point of view. Please Read and Review!
1. That little glint of red

**Hello people, this is my first fanfic and I've always wanted to write one. I think it's pretty okay, not that great but it's a lot of fun to write and the people who have read it till now, they all loved it. I just hope all of you like it too. And please do review in the end, it makes me happy. I accept suggestions too. The story shall have loads of chapters, as it continues to wind through the live of Snape and Lily, closely following the memories of Snape as portrayed by JKR. Please review! :)**

**P.S I don't own any characters, all credits to JKR!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: That little glint of red<strong>

_She was running towards him, her auburn long hair gracefully floating behind her, smiling her best smile ever, hands outstretched. He had always waited for this, but he wondered, how had she known who he was. He had never spoken to her, yet. Not at all disturbed though, he ran too, and stopped, he had heard her scream just then, a terrible scream. Wondering what happened he turned around and he saw his hopeless, drunk father shouting at her, calling her all foul names he had never imagined. Anger was boiling inside him, and before he could control himself, his father had staggered on to the ground, withering in pain, calling out for help…_

Severus woke up with a jolt, and just as he realized that it was all a dream, a wave of happiness followed by a great rush of disappointment washed over him. He was glad that it was just a dream. Not daring to imagine what would have happened if he had really used magic upon his father, such horrible painful magic, and his mother would never forgive him, despite the fact that his mother knew he could not learn to control his magic yet, he was just 10; he set his bed and walked straight into the bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, he pondered over the remaining half of the dream. It was probably the 100th time that he had dreamt about her, and that was why he was disappointed, it was only a dream.

Deciding to pluck up the courage to go speak to her today, he tried to wash out his black hair, which remained as greasy as ever, falling upon his shoulders, and his black eyes stared back at him, with as less emotion in them as possible.

He was starving, he wanted to eat something, he hadn't eaten anything yesterday, not wanting to go down, anywhere near his parent's who were arguing continuously, clearly oblivious to the fact that they had a son. He could hear them now. They had started arguing again, their voices carried up till his room. He couldn't really catch what they were saying.

He was a wizard, his mother, Eileen was a witch who married a muggle (non magical folk), Tobias Snape. He had always wondered why had she done so, they clearly despised each other. His father came home drunk most of these days, and took to hitting Severus every time he had laid eyes upon him. He was terrified and filled with utmost hatred, he wanted to run away, as soon as he could, but the only thing that kept him waiting was Hogwarts, and her…Lily.

His mother had told him about Hogwarts, a few times, but always when his father wasn't home.

Slowly, and as quietly as he could, he went down the stairs. His over sized, shabby coat dragging behind him. He saw his parents in the living room, facing each other, looks of utmost hatred in their faces. His father's back was facing him, and his mother was too busy to notice that he had just entered. He quickly made his way to the kitchen, and grabbed a muffin and some milk, and turned around to make his way back to his room when his father saw him,

'What do you think you're doing?' he screeched.

'Trying to survive, eating, since you conveniently choose to ignore feeding me.' Severus replied, with his voice strangely calm but filled with obvious disgust.

'How dare you speak like that to me' and his father made his way to him, getting ready to strangle him, when his mother shouted.

'You very well know what Severus is capable of, Tobias. Better not provoke him, because his magic is still uncontrolled.'

'I don't think he can do magic, like you Eileen. He clearly hasn't shown much signs as he? If he does know magic, I'm never going to send him to that School.'

'And you expect you can stop him? Or me?'

She flipped out her wand again and pointed it at him.

Severus couldn't take it anymore, and ran up to his room, shutting the door behind him, so he could drain out their voices. He opened his window, ate the little amount of food he could acquire, and then stared out blankly.

After what seemed like hours, he saw that red glint among the green park, and at once his heart gave a leap of joy. It was her, but she wasn't alone, as usual.

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><p>He remembered the first day he had seen her. He was merely lying on the ground, enjoying his time away from his home, when he heard so excited chatter followed by disbelieving gasps. He got up, and carefully making sure to stay hidden behind the bushes, peeped and saw two girls, one of them contrastingly prettier than the other, with a look of happiness and wonder, and distinct green eyes. She was holding out a flower in her hand, and without effort, the petals of the flower kept opening and closing continuously, just like magic. At once, Severus knew she was a witch, but was quite shocked. How could a witch like her not know, and be accompanied by a muggle who bore minute detailed resemblances to her, in features.<p>

'Lily, stop doing it. _How_ are you doing it?' said the other girl, clearly jealous, shocked and slightly scared.

'I don't know. See what else I can do, Tuney…' and she showed her something, Severus couldn't see properly. But he didn't care. The girl, Lily had taken all his attention, and since then, he had always tried to sneak about and spy on the girls, grasping tiny details every time, preparing and planning to tell her about the magical world. But she always seemed to be accompanied by that other girl, her sister, who was so unlike her.

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><p>He decided to go and tell her today, what she really was. He had planned enough. He would hide behind the bushes, as usual and then at the right moment he would get up and tell her, that she was a witch. But the only problem was getting out of the house unnoticed by his father, his mother wouldn't say anything, she had in fact seemed relieved every time he had left the house for a couple of hours. Waiting for his father to leave for work, he made up his mind firmly, he would, whatever may happen, talk to Lily today. It was just a matter of days before he turned 11 and got his letter. He wondered when she would get hers.<p>

He searched his wardrobe for decent looking clothes, which wasn't really difficult because all he owned was 5 pairs of clothes, and numerous books, all of which he, you could say, inherited. The clothes belonged to hi s father and were ridiculously over sized for him and the books, mostly wizarding books were his mother's who gave it to him one day after she had seen him performing magic, making pebbles near his front door move away on their own accord. She must have hoped he'd become a full talented wizard. Finally, on locating a pair of jeans, the only pair he had and a well decent looking coat, he changed into them and stood in front of the mirror. Well this was the best he had looked in ages, although the jeans was a tad too short for him and the coat, preposterously over sized, his smock like shirt didn't make thing any better but he couldn't help it.

He tried to set his hair, but it was so full of grease he gave it up and sat down on his bed, gazing out the window at the tiny glint of red, waiting for his father to leave.

On hearing the slamming of the front door, which obviously indicated that his father had left he ran down the steps and walked straight into his mother.

'Where do you think you're going?' she asked, coolly.

'To the park.'

'Dressed like that?'

'What's wrong?' Severus panicked, had he looked that bad? What would Lily make of him? He looked down and didn't see much of a difference and faced his mother again, who had a weird look of disgust on her face. He had the same sallow skin like her, and those black eyes were unmistakably inherited by him.

'Nothing. Be back before that mad man comes home.' Saying that she went back to her room, leaving Severus free to go .

He ran to the park, and took his usual place behind the bushes. He saw her, and his heart gave a small leap of joy. She looked prettier than ever, her eyes filled with astonishing glee, as she was swinging higher and higher sitting on the park swings. Below her, standing next to the poles was Tuney, her sister, with a mad glint of displeasure in her eyes.

'I will tell mommy, stop it LILY!' cried out Tuney.

'Okay. Fine.' Said Lily and got down, facing Tuney, her back to Severus.

'Will you ever tell me how you do such stuff?'

Severus knew, it was now or never, he got up, tried to muster every ounce of courage inside him, and said

'It's obvious isn't it?' and jumped out from the bushes.

Tuney screeched and ran back to the swings, but Lily stood there, her feet firmly planted on the ground, staring at Severus, with a look he really couldn't register, making him regret his appearance. He felt his cheeks warm up, and hoped to god he wasn't blushing.

'What's obvious?' Lily asked, trying her best to hide the thrill in her voice, and mildly surprised, but not even for a moment did she feels scared.

Severus looked back at Tuney, and as excitement mounted him, he answered, lowering his voice 'I know what you are.'

'What do you mean?' this time, she didn't even bother to hide her enthusiasm.

Slightly hesitant, he answered 'you're…you're a witch'

'That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody' and she marched off, to her sister.

He hadn't expected this in the least bit, but muggles as they were, are ignorant, and he did know what better way to explain it in.

'You are.' He said, both the girls were standing near the swing poles now, facing him united, ready to run any second as though he was going to attack them.

'You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while' saying this he felt himself blush again, but pushing it aside he continued 'But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one and I'm a wizard.'

The girl, Tuney started to laugh like a maniac, and rudeness was emitting from within her voice, as she said 'Wizard? I know who you are. You're that Snape boy!' Turning to Lily she said 'They live down Spinner's End by the river.' and turning back to him 'Why have you been spying on us?'

Severus could feel rage boiling inside him, but he had to control, he couldn't let things go wrong now, after all the planning he had done for ages, he didn't want to scare Lily away or make her angry.

'Haven't been spying, wouldn't spy on you, would I? You're a muggle.' he said to Tuney.

She had clearly understood that it meant something horrible, or something unworthy of, because the next thing she did was grab Lily by the hand and drag her away, saying 'We are leaving, now.'

He saw Lily look back at him, a look of longing in her face, and he smiled at her, extremely glad that she smiled back at him. She clearly wanted to know more, find out more. It hadn't gone on as planned, the other girl ruined it, but it was a start wasn't it?

He lay on the grass for a few hours more, thinking about when he may next get to talk to her, maybe at Hogwarts, she would surely get her letter, unless she wasn't supposed to go there, because she wasn't supposed to be a witch by birth, maybe her family were entirely like her sister, and wouldn't recognize the value of being a witch. 'Muggles' he muttered aloud. Tomorrow was New Year's eve, and 10 days from then would be his birthday, he'd turn eleven, and as his mother had told him, he would get his letter. His father couldn't stop him then.

He suddenly got up, having thought of a brilliant way to find out whether Lily would ever be permitted to Hogwarts, and ran back home. There were still a couple of hours before his dad would return.

'Mother?' he shouted, once in the living room. It felt different because he had hardly used such a polite tone before, or called for her ever. Since no one had replied he decided to go up to his room, disappointed when on the steps he saw his mother coming down, looking rather irritated for having been disturbed.

'You called for me? What?' she asked.

'Well you know mother, I'm turning eleven this January, so I was just wondering whether I would get my letter. '

His mother searched his eyes, looking for something he didn't figure out what, and then took him by his hand, an action which startled him so much that he nearly jumped, and led him to the living room. She sat down and Severus took the couch facing her. When he looked up at her he saw a kind of mild joy in her face, he had seen only once before, the first time she had told him about Hogwarts.

'Severus, you know what you are, a wizard, and there's no denying that fact, even if Tobias wanted to. It doesn't matter if he's your father and I am not going to let him what so ever to stop you. Yes, you will get your letter, by owl post, and once you do, I shall take you to Diagon Alley where I will buy you all your school stuff, although yeah I have to get the required money.' She spoke the last bit mostly to herself.

'That I'll manage, but listen, once you're at Hogwarts, you will be taught, as time goes by, advanced magic and how to use and control it. Until now you haven't been punished for doing magic at home, because you still haven't been taught to control your magic, but once you start attending Hogwarts, doing magic outside school until you are of age is restricted. You, however have an advantage, if you do magic when you're with me it'll be difficult to detect who actually did it, you or me, so the Ministry of Magic won't be able o pin down a complaint on you. Understand?'

Severus nodded, and he could feel the enthusiasm inside him buzzing, his mother had never told him so much before, never spoken to him for so long, and he liked it. He for a moment felt that she actually was happy that she had a son like him. He said 'There's a Ministry of Magic?'

'Oh yes there is, but more of that later. My family, entire ancestry has been sorted into the House of Slytherin, the noblest and best house there could ever be. Indeed, the Prince's did have a quite amount of respect shown to them, but you cannot expect the same amount to be shown to you, since I have been disowned from the family, for having married a muggle. My family did have the pride of being a pure-blood family, but let me tell you, it doesn't matter what your blood status is alright? And I have no doubt that you'll be sorted into Slytherin, because you're bloody attitude proves that…what is it?'

Severus had wanted to ask something, so he made to interrupt her flow,

'Mother, can a person, belonging to a muggle family, do magic?'

Eileen was clearly shocked, she hadn't expected to be asked this question, but she answered.

'Why do you want to know that boy, what have you seen? And yes they can, they are called muggle-borns, and even more foully 'mudbloods'. Don't you dare go using that name in Hogwarts, it may make you quite a few enemies from the other houses. And have you seen any muggle borns around? Here, in our neighborhood?'

He didn't know what to say, firstly he would never dream of calling Lily a mudblood, not even in his wildest dreams, and he couldn't make the decision as to whether he should tell his mother about Lily or not. He had a strong feeling not too.

'I may have noticed something…um…someone, probably its nothing, but do they get their letter through owl post too?'

'Maybe, maybe not, usually someone from school goes to explain it to the muggle parents. And remember all the books I gave you long time ago, have you read them? They could be of some use to you, you could very well be advanced then many others in your year. And I still have a few of my old school books, if we can't manage to buy new ones, you can use them…what now?'

'How many other houses are there? And what are they? How do you get sorted into them?'

' There's a sorting hat, and there are totally four house, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryff…..'

The front door slammed open, and his father barged in, looking furious to find his wife and son having a conversation, sitting in the living room.

'What have you been teaching him? More magic? Teaching him how to kill me I suppose.'

'There would be no use for that would it? I could just kill you myself.' And turning to Severus she said, 'Off you go to your room, hurry.' She whipped out her wand and pointed it at Tobias again, who backed away still screaming,

'I will not accept this madness, he shall not be leaving to that school this year, I will see to it.'

'You suppose a muggle like you could stop me? By the way, I'll need some money to buy our SON'S school things.'

'Money? MONEY? How dare you…you woman!'

Severus backed off, ran up to his room and buried his head under the pillows, thinking of everything his mother had told him, she had seem unnaturally kind, and happy today, while she was speaking of everything and even offered to protect him from his father. Feeling rather pleased he fell asleep, hoping for a new year ahead.

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><p><strong>So that's the first chapter. Please review! Thanks! <strong>


	2. Not a very Happy New Year

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you liked the previous one. Review!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Not a very Happy New Year's<strong>

The bright sunshine fell through the open windows, lighting up on the little boy's face, who was fast asleep, a faint trace of a smile etched upon his face. His dark black hair, falling on to his face, one could say he was a handsome child, if not for his abnormally large nose. As the sun shone brighter, the rays grew hotter and the boy twitched in his sleep, moments later, he woke up, totally dazzled by the light.

Severus Snape a young boy of ten awoke on New Year's eve, thoroughly satisfied with himself, for the previous day had been one of the happiest days of his life.

Walking down to breakfast, which he was lucky to eat, because it was New Year's Eve and probably the only day when his mother bothered to make some breakfast, he relived yesterday's happenings in a minute and knew what he was going to do from now on, aim at becoming the best Slytherin ever.

'Good morning Severus.' His mother had wished him, which wasn't surprising on New Year's Eve, but was a pleasant change.

'Good morning mother.'

He ate his eggs and bacon, drank some tea and helped himself to the spare muffins on the counter. His mother hadn't restricted him today so he tried to eat to his stomach's content. Just as he was finishing his last bits of food, his father entered, a solemn air about him although he was less rude and irate than usual.

'Good morning Tobias, have something before you go for work.'

'Good morning Eileen, well okay, if I have to. Oh, good morning Severus. Finished eating I see.'

'Yes father, have a nice day.' And he walked away; he couldn't take any more of that hilarious politeness. It had become a tradition at his house, every New Year's Eve was the only day they were polite to each other, and he had no idea why.

'Eileen, here take this money, for Severus school things.'

'Thank you. Have a nice day at work.'

He was watching from the stairs, if only they had been like this every day. He would prefer a happy family any day. One thing that shocked him was that his father had given his mother money to get his school things. As shocking as it was, he was delighted.

As usual he was gazing out his window when he caught that spangle of auburn, Lily…and she was alone. His day couldn't get any better.

Dashing down the steps, he glanced at his mother, smiled at her and sprinted to the park. He slowed down on reaching it, and tried to look casual, strolling around the park.

'Hey, Snape!' Lily had spotted him and came running towards him.

Trying his best to hide his excitement he turned to face her, and felt his cheeks warm up again. She would have obviously seen the colour rise in his sallow cheeks. 'Hi.' he replied meekly.

She held out her hand, 'I'm Lily, Lily Evans.'

He shook her hand, feeling totally flustered and replied 'I'm Severus Snape, you can call me Severus…'

'Oh right. Sorry about yesterday, my sister Tuney, Petunia can be really mean at times. I bet she didn't mean anything she said, she was just scared.' Lily tried to explain everything very quickly, feeling very sorry truly. Shocked by her extreme kindness he tried not to sound rude,

'I don't really care what she thinks, she just a muggle and you're not.'

'What's a muggle, and am I really a…'

He understood why she had wanted talk to him, she wanted answers, and he was more than willing to give them.

'A muggle, is someone who can't do magic, my mother told me. My father is one, a muggle I mean. You, you're a witch, someone who can do magic, and the magic you do, it's really beautiful. I'm a wizard.' He smiled at her as he said it.

She took some time for the words to sink in, and then after sometime she spoke again.

'But how am I able to do magic? No one in my family can, you, you're mother is one so you're one too, isn't it?'

She was clever, she caught up with things fast.

'That's because you're a muggle born. And once you turn eleven, you get a letter from Hogwarts, where they teach you..,'

'Hogwarts?'

'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it's a school, a wonderful school for people like us to learn and control very advanced magic.'

He was repeating everything his mother told him yesterday.

'And we get our letters by owl post.'

'Really? Wow. Tell me more, Severus.'

That was the first time she had called him Severus, and he felt a chill run through his body when he heard her call him, a good kind of chill. But at that moment he saw his dad on the other side of park, heading towards the house and he got up suddenly.

'Sorry I have to go, I'll talk to you later.' He turned and almost began to ran when he heard her call him,

'Severus, Happy New Year. Bye.' And she smiled, the same smile from his dream.

'Happy New Year, Lily.' As the last word left his lips, his heart swelled with emotion and he turned away and ran back home, up to his room and just sat down on his bed when he heard his father enter the house.

'Severus!' his father had shouted.

Dreading the worst, he walked down the steps as slowly as possible.

'Where were you?' he asked, bitterly.

'In my room.'

'All day long?'

'Yes.'

'Don't you dare lie to me little boy' and he lifted his hand, a gesture which Severus knew to indicate that he was going to be hit, so he ducked just when his mother walked in.

'Tobias! What do you think you're doing?'

'You witch, you stay out of this.'

'I don't understand what you're talking about. Severus was here all day long, I saw him. Now don't let your temper get the better of you, come let's eat. It's nearly lunch time.'

'Was he really?' he mocked his wife, and since it was New Year's Eve he decide to leave it there and they all had lunch, which was a very solemn affair, after which Tobias left the house, and Severus was left alone with his mother.

Taking this opportunity to be alone with Severus, Eileen questioned him,

'Where _were _you?

'At the park, getting some fresh air.'

Trying her best to look convinced, but failing miserably she said 'Next time, don't let your father see you.' and walked away to her room.

Severus went up to his room, and for want of a better thing to do since he couldn't leave the house anymore that day, he took out the books that his mother had given him, deciding to go through them. Most of them were books on spells, especially curses, and one of them was so full of Dark Magic, Severus had to wonder why his mother hadn't used any of them on his father, it would have made life much simpler for him. One book that caught his attention for a longer while than necessary was 'Dangerous Potions and Antidotes.' He decided to read it when he had nothing else to do so it would take up his time in interest, and started shifting through the book on curses, wondering whether he would be able to used any of them on his father, he really didn't mind his mother much.

At that moment he wondered when was he going to get his wand, and imagined sparks sprouting out from the end of a stick, and aiming it at anyone who threatened to come in his way. It was just an hour away from midnight, and then it would be a new year, a very different year, since he would start at Hogwarts, he hoped that life would be much better and secretly wished that he and Lily would become good friends.

Precisely then, the front door banged open and he heard his drunk father walk in shouting curses and rude words, most of them indicated at him or his mother. A rage boiled in him, and he wanted to go down and smack his father hard, but given his size he didn't dare to. He opened his door and he saw his mother pass, looking slightly scared which startled him a bit, she had never looked scared before, like this. She noticed him and said 'Don't come down today.' closing the door behind her.

How could his father spoil New Year's? It was the only day in the entire year when he felt happy, and his mother seemed less hostile. He could hear raised voices from below, and was wondering why couldn't his mother just silence him? She should have obviously known a spell for that. And then he heard something he hadn't expected in the least bit. His mother was screaming, horribly, not words but practically howling in pain, he couldn't take it anymore, and ran down the steps. The scene that had met his eyes as terrible, his father was whipping his mother, her wand lay far away from her, he must have got hold of it and chucked it away.

Speculating the probability of triumph he could have over his father if he planned to attack him, which was next to zero, Severus was surprised that none of the neighbors had heard them yet and come looking for the source of trouble. He didn't seem to realize when his father spotted him in the room and came striding towards him, and whacked him hard on his face.

'You bloody liar. You're being trained by your mother I bet. To curse me, to kill me. Spit it out boy, how much magic do you know!'

'I don't know anything.' whimpering, Severus answered, as he received another blow. He could feel his cheek stinging, when his father pulled him by the collar, and bent his face, his disgustingly huge hooked nose just inches away from Severus' which was similar but small compared in size, and snarled,

'I'm not going to tolerate anymore magic in this house.'

His breath reeked of booze, and Severus was close to vomiting, he tried to struggle and loosen the man's grip on his collar. Aware of what his son was trying to do, the drunken man threw his son towards the wall, and turned to his wife who was sitting with her back to the wall. Severus took this chance, and moved to the corner, as far away as possible from the mad man, and was praying that his mother would be able to overpower him, but seeing that her wand was lying next to him, he was disappointed.

Without realizing, tears started flowing from his eyes, he was crying, like he had never before, the pain was too much, and he couldn't bear to see his father raise his hand to smack his mother, who was cowering, trying her best to dissolve through the wall.

Severus couldn't control it anymore, he could feel the magic inside him burst, and he didn't bother to restrain himself, longing to see what would happen if he did lose his control, and at that moment, the side cabinet sped through the room, towards his father, and it smashed into him with so much force that it knocked him out, unconscious. His mother stared wide eyed at him, and without waiting for anything, she stood up, grabbed Severus by the wrist, picked up her wand and dragged him upstairs. She took him to his room, departing him there and went to her own room. Severus saw his face in the mirror, it was blue, and the places where his father had whacked him were hurting so bad, he didn't know what to do. He climbed on to his bed and fell asleep, this had definitely been the worse New Year ever, even the fact that Lily had wished him couldn't brighten him up.

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><p><strong>Don't you feel sorry for Snape? I hate his father so much! Next chapter will be up soon. Please review!<strong>


	3. To find a friend,but then not so anymore

**I hope you people liked the first two chapters, it took me a lot of time to write it, a week perhaps, and I know I've been dragging out the story, two chapters and only two days have been covered so far, but I wanted to give a brief glimpse into Severus' personal life before going on with the story, from now all trivial stuff shall be a small background and more emphasis will be given on more interesting happenings. Perhaps. xD**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: To find a friend, but then not so anymore.<strong>

The next two days were hell for Severus, his body ached all over, his bruises looked worse, his face was totally blue and he hadn't left his room nor had he eaten anything. He hadn't seen his mother or father, he just heard them, fighting, and many a time he heard his father threatening his mother to kill their son if he did any more magic. His back heart from sleeping on the bed, which was hard and the most uncomfortable thing ever, the bloody bruises on his back which were caused because his father had slammed him to the wall had dried up and but burned every time he tried to take of his shirt or sleep on the bed, when the cloth brushed through the cuts. He hadn't eaten for two days, and waiting for his letter from Hogwarts, since it was only a week till he turned eleven, he had almost forgotten that he was starving.

Straining his ears for the slightest hint of a sound, he went down, and saw that the house seemed deserted; he grabbed whatever food he laid his eyes on, and rushed back upstairs. He ate his food in silence, and then decided on reading the few books he owned. The book 'Dark Curses and their Potential Harm' caught his attention this time, maybe because he wanted to curse his father's head off, after that night on New Year's. He knew he had made the cabinet hit his father, although he hadn't really controlled it he knew he didn't mind it at all, he was in fact pleased that he had lost control, for once. In about a week's time he would get his letter from Hogwarts and later his mother might take him to Diagon Alley and buy him his wand, he could then start practicing a few of these curses, he thought.

He read the book, through the afternoon, and he had lunch sitting in his room, ate whatever was left of his breakfast food, and again continued reading. There were pages and pages of hexes and curses, each more brutal than the other, with proper instruction on how to use them, with the necessary wand movements and perfect pronunciation of the incantations. B y the end of that day he knew he had read enough curses and thoroughly enough to get it right the first time he used them once he got his wand, and without hesitation he decided he would test the first one on his filthy Muggle father.

That night he fell asleep with the book in his hand, eating nothing only to be woken up at what seemed like 4 in the morning by his mother.

'You'd do better than to display all these books to your father, keep them away now and don't you dare let him find any of them.' she snarled and walked out.

Severus couldn't go back to sleep and he wondered why had his mother visited his room, she usually never did. Keeping those thoughts out of his mind he decided on going out to the park and lying down there, he didn't care whether his father was going to catch him or not, he just didn't care anymore, it was just a matter of months and he would be off to Hogwarts. Walking towards the park, he wondered whether Lily would turn up today, the last time he spoke to her, he had to leave abruptly. He really wished she had a better New Year than him, but she was anyway bound to, she seemed to come from a nice family, at least he thought so, unless her whole family were like Petunia, Lily's rather uninteresting sister.

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><p>'<em>Severus? Severus!'<em>

He was hearing her voice now, he knew it was a dream, with no intention of waking up he smiled and just rolled over to the side waiting for the voice to say his name again, this time it sounded closer and louder, a bit impatient too. His eyes flickered open and he saw Lily staring down at him, her face barely inches away from his. Seeing that he had woken up she drew herself back and greeted him with a smile.

'Were you camping out here the whole night?'

'Camping?' he said rather sheepishly, still a bit dazed and sleepy.

'I was walking by and saw you lying down, and I just wanted to talk to you. Why hadn't you come to the park since New Year's?'

He could see that she blushed when she said that she wanted to talk to him, and her voice was a bit uncertain, and he thought maybe she thought he didn't want to talk to her, and before he could stop himself Severus started talking, telling her everything he had kept bottled up inside him, about his parent's fighting, his father beating him, how magic wasn't appreciated by his father and he realized, that he was even rubbing his bruises on his back and his cheeks and felt a stream of warm tears falling across his face. Totally embarrassed he looked away from Lily's startlingly green eyes which were filled with sympathy and wiped his face on his sleeve, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't imagine that he had just cried his heart out and that too in front of Lily, the very last person on earth he would have ever expected to watch him cry.

He didn't have even an ounce of courage in him now, he couldn't turn to face her, he had been an outright coward, she would definitely think he was a weak, good for nothing boy and half expected her to leave him and walk away when he felt a small hand on his shoulder and heard her say,

'Be strong Severus.'

He turned around to face her and saw that she was smiling, evidently trying to hide the tears in her eyes. He felt a rush of emotion like never before, probably gratitude, but he didn't understand what it was, this was the first time in his entire life, he felt pleasantly satisfied, not because he was the reason of Lily's hidden tears, but because he knew that she cared for him, someone cared for him. His happiness knew no bounds as he realized that he must have made a friend, a wonderfully incredible miracle it seemed, as he never would have thought that he would get along well with anyone. He had pictured Hogwarts before, but always imagined that he would stroll those mysterious passages alone, trying to find secrets and learn something new, but now he was looking forward to Hogwarts even more, he would have a friend, a proper friend to spend his time with, to attend classes together, to enjoy meals.

He hadn't realized that he was smiling to himself thinking about all that, and Lily looked a bit surprised but regained her composure quite quickly and asked quietly, 'What?' obviously questioning his sudden apparent happiness.

'Thank you,' he said almost inaudibly, and added 'for listening.'

Lily smiled wide and muttered something under her breath which sounded a lot like 'never mind' and then said aloud, 'So, why don't you do some magic, show me something, teach me more?' her voice was so full of eagerness and she was almost jumping with excitement.

'I don't really know much magic, nothing more than you' he didn't want to tell her about the curses, he had no idea why but he felt it best if he just didn't mention it, Lily was definitely not the type who would enjoy cursing or hexing people for the fun of it. 'My mother does know a lot but, and she has a wand, we get our wands before we go to Hogwarts, from Diagon Alley.'

'Wands! So you can perform magic with the wand only? Then how come I was able to do all that other stuff?'

'Even I could do it couldn't I? I don't know really, I think it is more powerful, the magic, if we do it with the help of a wand.' He made a mental note to ask his mother about it but then realized it wasn't a really good time these days to talk about magic with his mother, although he hadn't seen his father around for quite a while, wondering where he had disappeared…

'And where's Diagon Alley?'

'Oh, I don't know. Mother said it was the place where we get all our wizarding things for school.'

Saying that he saw Lily's eyes twinkling with excitement, she had a faraway look in her eyes, probably imagining everything that Severus had said. Instinctively he laid down on the grass wondering what the time was, and after a few minutes Lily laid down on the grass to, next to him staring at the sky. He felt a swift of happiness pass through him and was trying to picture the scene in his head, wanting this memory to be vividly imprinted in his brain. Suddenly an idea had struck him, getting up and turning to face Lily who was now sprawled on the grass with her hands behind her head and said with distinct excitement in his voice,

'Lily, I want to show you something.'

He then got up and beckoned her to follow him, for a moment he thought to grab her hand and run along but decided against it. Severus had no idea why he was doing this, but he was sure she would like it and it was something which always kept him calm and helped him stay peaceful after hearing those long fights between his parents. He led her past his house, not bothering to tell her that it was his house, to the river flowing beside it which had wonderful small thicket of trees, through the gaps between the trunks of which the river was visible, flowing ever so smoothly with the pleasant sound of running water. He used to come here since he was a child; the surrounding scenery had always given him an air of tranquility.

'Wow.' He heard lily mutter under her breath, clearly taken by the beauty of the place. She obviously hadn't expected such lush surroundings near Spinner's End, especially after that description given by her sister of Petunia which made it sound like a mangled area.

'I need to go home, we're expecting guests in the evening, I have to help mum. Can we come here tomorrow after breakfast? You can tell me more about Hogwarts.' she sounded very expectant and Severus was delighted, it being apparent in his voice.

'Sure.'

'Then I'll meet you here tomorrow at around 10?'

'Yeah.'

'Bye then.'

And she turned and ran away, towards her home and Severus went back to his, a bit happier than he was since the past few days.

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><p>Severus had reached the river side at around 9.30 to the next day, as soon as he heard the front door close. His father seemed to have gone to work, but he hadn't really seen him and his mother wasn't at home either, or probably she was just sitting in her room.<p>

After what seemed like hours he heard light footsteps and saw Lily walking towards him. Clutching a small piece of what looked like a sandwich in her hand, covered with a napkin. She came and sat in front of him, cross legged and gave the sandwich to him. He hesitated but then took it and looked at her questioningly.

'You said you hadn't eaten much, and you do look underfed.' she said with a pang of sadness in her voice. Severus felt his cheeks warm up, he hadn't remembered what exactly he had said yesterday, in his rampaging worries about his family, but nevertheless he took the sandwiched and ate it hungrily, it was one of the tastiest things he had ever eaten.

'It's really good, and thanks.'

'Yes, my mum is a really good cook; and don't mention it.' she added, smiling at him. He moved himself so that now he was facing her, sitting cross legged too and waited for her to start talking, which he was sure she was bound to.

Severus was right; she did speak up after what seemed like an half an hour,

"Do all the magical creatures from books really exist then? If wizards and witches are true, then the vampires, werewolves and all must be true?"

Marveling at her innocence he replied 'Yes, I think so, I have read a few books. And there are worse creatures, the dementors.' Shuddering at his own words he remembered that day when his mother had first told him about them, it wasn't a pleasant memory, he didn't want to remember exactly what his mother had described, and never wanted to encounter one.

"Dementors?"

Severus regretted mentioning them, he knew Lily would want to know more now, and he didn't have the heart to refuse and disappoint her.

"They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. They are horrible creatures, you wouldn't want to face one, and they suck out all the happiness from you and eventually your soul. Wizard criminals are handed over to the dementor…that's what my mother told me." He didn't relate everything else she had told him. About how one would feel that they would never be happy again, and he didn't tell Lily about the Dementor's Kiss, or their rotten bodies and scary demeanor. Thankfully, she didn't want to know more about them, she was definitely put off by the description. He started speaking again,

"There's a Minister of Magic too, at the Ministry of Magic. Underage magic is not allowed outside school, you become of age once you're 17, and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."

"But I _have_ done magic outside school" she said, sounding a bit confused.

"We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven,'' he gave a sort of important nod, trying to indicate that it was something to be proud of, turning eleven, ''and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

Lily kept silent, and he saw her face, her expressions clearly indicating that she was pondering over everything he had just said, trying to set them right in her tiny head. He saw her pick up a fallen twig and twirl it and he knew she was imagining it to be a wand and sparks trailing from it. Suddenly she dropped the twig and leaned in towards Severus that it took quite a bit of calm for him not to jump up in surprise and in a whisper she said,

"It _is_ real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It _is_ real, isn't it?"

The concern was prominent in her voice and Severus couldn't help but smile, 'Muggles' he thought and he said,

"It's real for us. Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?"

And suddenly, he was filled with a lot of confidence, since he was sure, and convinced that this was his destiny, he would be going to Hogwarts, and his life would change. He would try and find a new home, somewhere out there, and so he answered, with confidence and a very impressive tone,

"Definitely"

"And will it really come by owl?" now Lily was truly intrigued with that aspect.

"Normally." He said, and then remembered what his mother had told him. "But you're a Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being a Muggle-born?" she was surely tensed, and he could sense anxiety and understood at once that she feared of being an outcast among all witches.

He hesitated, he remembered what his mother called such people, 'Mudbloods', but he didn't have the heart to tell her that and quietly answered,

"No, it doesn't make a difference."

"Good." said Lily, and she seemed to relax a bit.

"You've got loads of magic," he continued speaking, not wanting this day to end, he could go on forever, just talking to her, "I saw that. All the time I was watching you…" and he suddenly felt warm, and he knew he was blushing, he shouldn't have said that. Lily wasn't looking at him though, she stretched on the ground, and laid down, looking up at the canopy of leaves overhead. He kept watching her, and he remembered those days when he used to keep spying, staring at her, observing her every move.

"How are things at your house?" She had caught him of guard, he had expected this, he didn't think she would remember what he had told her yesterday or that she would care enough to enquire later. Frowning a bit, he felt a small crease form between his eyebrows.

"Fine."

"They are not arguing anymore?"

He didn't know what to say, he knew they'd never stop arguing,

"Oh yes, they're arguing," he said, and unaware of what he was doing, he picked up a few leaves and started tearing them apart, "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone." He added the last part, with a bit of pleasure in his voice.

"Doesn't your dad like magic?"

"He doesn't like anything, much," he said bitterly.

He turned away, not wanting Lily to catch the emotion in his face when she spoke again,

"Severus?"

He felt a small smile worling out on his face, everytime she said his name, that similar joyful feeling.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again."

He was taken aback, trying to imagine why on earth she wanted to hear about such soul depressing creatures again.

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school –"

"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too – "

He stopped abruptly, he had said all that in a rush, not wanting to picture Lily in front of the dementors and he couldn't believe he almost said that she was too innocent and wonderful and _pretty_ to do a horrible act. He started shredding more leaves.

A small rustling noise behind him made them turn around and he spotted Petunia, that horrible sister of Lily and he jumped to his feet. He wanted to start insulting her, but Lily had already spoken and there was a tone of surprise in her voice and to his dismay a bit of welcome too.

"Tuney!"

He knew she had been listening to everything he had just said, and wondered what a Muggle like her would have made out of it all.

"Who's spying now?" he shouted, "What d'you want?"

Petunia looked breathless, she seemed to have been hiding behind the trees and spying on them and looked a bit alarmed at being caught, to Severus's pleasure he saw she was struggling to speak up.

"What is that you're wearing, anyway?" Petunia was pointing at his chest, "Your mum's blouse?"

Severus was irritated now, how dare she comment upon him, she, a filthy Muggle, and he knew she was going to regret it, he couldn't control his displeasure anymore, and once again his displeasure turned to magic and he saw a branch of the tree from above Petunia's head break with a _crack_ and it fell. Lily screamed; the branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears.

He was glad, but a bit repulsed at that fake burst of tears, the branch hadn't really hurt her either. But Lily seemed to be angry, and she called out to her, looking very concerned,

"Tuney!"

But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on him now,

"Did you make that happen?"

"No" he said, trying to look as defiant as possible but was slightly scared too, what if she was angry with him and what if she would stop speaking to him for attacking his sister, but as he had told her before, he couldn't control his magic.

"You did!" she was backing away from him. "You _did_! You hurt her!"

Severus was frightened now, she indeed was walking away from him, looking angry and repulsed by him.

"No – no I didn't!"

But he knew he hadn't convinced Lily, and after giving him one last burning look, she ran from the thicket, off after her sister. He felt miserable now, but he couldn't help it could he, Petunia had provoked him, she had commented upon him, rather rudely, and his hatred just turned to magic, surely Lily should have understood that by now, feeling miserable and confused he turned away too, walking back to his house.

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><p><strong>End of chapter 3! Oh that took a lot of time, maybe because I was not with my laptop for quite a while. : Anyway I hope you enjoyed it! And please do review if you have read it because it's nice to see that I got more than 120 hits and 25 visitors, but no reviews? :/**

**:) x**


	4. The long awaited letter

**Another chapter! I managed it. This is so far one of my favorite chapters. Read and you'll find out why. REVIEW too! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: The long awaited Letter<strong>

It was a beautiful day with a pleasant breeze. The houses and roads were carpeted by a thin blanket of snow. The sun was playing with the clouds and the first rays of shine melted the crumble of snow on the window panes. Everything was normal at Spinner's End; a few early risers took the beauty of the day as a welcoming sight and covered in warm clothes were out on the streets to have a nice stroll. Little did they expect an owl to be swooping down during the day but nevertheless were not surprised and convinced themselves that even that tiny little creature did not want to miss out the beauty of this day.

The owl swooped down and landed itself on the window sill of the house at the farthest corner of the lane with all the battered looking houses. It started pecking at the window while trying to hold the large envelope in its beak still. Inside, a young boy was sleeping and he looked very under nourished, sporting a very weirdly arranged assortment of clothing. It was this boy's eleventh birthday. What's the big deal you say, but one doesn't turn eleven everyday do they? And especially, when you are a wizard, you get your letter, _the letter_.

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><p><em>Peck. Peck. Screeeeeech. Peck.<em>

Severus Snape woke up to those noises on the morning of January 9th, only to realize with a sudden surge of delight that there was an owl sitting on his window pane, on his eleventh birthday and that he had gotten his letter, _the letter_, from The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He quickly got up and opened the window trying not to make even the tiniest bit of sound since the last thing he wanted was the letter in the hands of his father. He took it from the owl which flew away instantly and stared at it taking in every tiny detailed. The letter was addressed to him, directly to him.

_Snape_

_The Tiny Room _

_The House by the River._

_Spinner's End._

And behind on the envelope there was a seal, a coat of arms, with four animals: a snake, a badger, a lion and an eagle along with a large H in the middle. Excitement flowing through his every vein, his hands trembling, Severus opened the envelope and pulled out two very thick sheets of paper. Well it couldn't be paper. It was a lot thicker than that, maybe it was that what you called parchment. He took the smaller parchment and read.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, _

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Snape, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Severus's joy knew no bounds. It was finally happening! It was true, he would be going to Hogwarts. He then unfolded a second piece of paper and read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

Uniform

_First-year students will require_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves(dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

Set Books

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginners'' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A guide to Self- Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

Other Equipment

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

Severus read through both the parchments again. He knew this had to be one of the best birthdays ever and he could never have gotten a better birthday gift. He decided to go show Lily the letter but then remembered that he hadn't seen her after that day when he had 'accidently' let slip of his magic and hurt her sister Petunia. So he decided to show it to his mother, the only other person he knew would show some interest.

He had a quick bath and put on his best clothes. Unlike every other normal kid, Muggle or magical, he never got new clothes for his birthday nor did he ever get a birthday gift and he didn't expect any different treatment today. He carefully hid the letter along with the envelope under his bed sheets and placed the book '_Dark Curses and their Potential Harm_' that he had been reading last night, inside his cupboard. He knew it was a bit too early to go down and decided to wait till his father had left the house to go speak to his mother. After what seemed like hours he heard the front door close and precisely at that moment his mother barged into his room.

"Severus! Happy Birthday! Did you get it?" and her eyes scanned the room searching for any sign of the letter or the envelope.

This was the first time that his mother had wished him on his birthday. Or at least it was the first time he remembered her wishing him on his birthday, she must have wished him when he was very young but he didn't really remember.

"Thanks mum..."

And then he froze. He never called his mother 'mum' before, he had always looked at her like any other elder and called her 'mother' just for the sake of it but today he felt like maybe she really did care about him and maybe she really did want him to learn and progress in magic. But spotting the relaxed smile on her face he realized she didn't mind and a pang of unknown emotion swelled through him as he spoke, with a braver and more pleasant tone than the one he usually used with his parents,

"And yes, I got it!" with the joy evident in his voice. He reached under his bed sheets and revealed the letter with the envelope to his mum. She took it her face filled with joy, a expression that made Severus wonder what she was thinking. A reminiscent mist filled Eileen's eyes. She seemed to be remembering the first time she had gotten her letter and the excitement she had felt then or she could have just genuinely been happy for Severus. No one would ever know. She pulled out the parchments reading all the contents thoroughly but then her look of pleasure had vanished suddenly being replaced by worry.

"What's wrong?" Severus panicked.

"Money…I need to…"

"But I thought father gave you money. That day he gave you the money bag didn't he? I saw…"

"Yes, but that was only some lousy Muggle money and it won't be enough once you get them exchanged for wizarding currency. The exchange rates must be very high now."

"What's the wizarding currency?"

His mum however didn't answer him and she sat down on his bed which shook a bit and buried her head in her hands. Severus would never have imagined that he'd feel upset for his mum. He sat beside her and kept silent; he would wait for her to speak.

"Come down and eat. And I'll give you a few more books to read too. Have you read the other ones?"

Shocked that she had changed the subject and still wondering how would his mum get the money he replied "Yes I've read a few. And I love that book on curses." His voice held a malicious tone which resulted in a smirk from his mum. Even more surprised now he followed his mother downstairs and watched her as she made them some breakfast, which was a very rare sight. It was interesting to watch. All she did was wave her wand and everything moved on its own accord – the vegetables were chopped by a knife being held by an invisible hand; the tea was being made on its own; and plates, cups and saucers arranged themselves on the table. The crisps flew out from the cupboard in a jar and placed itself in front of him. Oh how Severus loved magic!

After finishing his meal he waited till his mum was done with hers and then she led him to her room. He had never been here before except when he was very young. His mother used to drag him here and let him sleep with her after any fight with his father. He actually kind of liked it, the room. It was covered in dark green wallpaper; a small silver and green flag was pinned above the bed set with a snake embezzled in the middle. There were a few pictures on the old, worn out desk. He turned to look at his mum. She was busy searching for something in her wardrobe, so he went to take a closer look at the pictures. As he approached the desk, to his amusement, he saw that the people in the pictures _moved_. Yes, moved! There were not stationary like in any ordinary picture one sees, but they were moving, just like in the television. He looked closer and saw that all the pictures were moving except one: his mum and father's wedding picture. He picked it up and wiping a layer of dust that had formed on it he saw their faces. Tobias Snape looked young and faintly handsome, if not for his abnormally large nose which unfortunately was later inherited by his son. And he looked happy, truly happy, with the happiness radiating out of his eyes like glow. Next to him, with her hands twined with his was Eileen Snape, she had the same sallow skin like her son but her face seemed to be a lot less tensed and a lot more jovial than it was now. They were a young happy couple back done. He wondered whether his father knew that she was a witch back done, and if he had why had he married her if he hated magic so much.

He put the frame down and picked up another one which had a moving person waving up at him, his mum.

"That was in my 5th year." She said from behind him and he turned to face her.

"Mum, how are the pictures moving?"

"Well all magical portraits and pictures move don't they? Anyway, here take these books. They belonged to my father. And come here."

She led him to the bed's headset and pointed to the flag which was pinned to the wall.

"That's the Slytherin flag. My entire family has been sorted into that house and I know you will be too."

"Okay. And could you give me some paper to write on?"

She raised a questioning eyebrow but nodded and gave him some parchment which she had kept in her wardrobe. He saw that the wardrobe was filled with many things other than clothes, all of which looked the least bit Muggle made. He was about to ask his mother about them when another thought had struck his mind.

"Has father seen all this?"

"What? Oh, no he hasn't. You see he can't enter my room because it's always locked by a spell, and even if the door was open he couldn't have opened this wardrobe at all." and she seemed to smile to herself remembering some previous incident.

This brought excitement to Severus. He hadn't known any magic as awesome as this yet and he couldn't wait. He was having numerous evil little thoughts in his tiny little head.

"Go on then." said his mum.

Severus left the room, went to the living room to grab a pen hoping his father wouldn't notice a missing pen and went to his own room. He slipped down on the bed after placing this new addition of books in the cupboard along with the old ones. He took out his letter and read it again. Then he took out the parchment and made a small calendar sort of chart with the days counting up to September 1st. But it was difficult to write on the parchment with a pen. He wondered whether they were going to teach him a spell at Hogwarts to make writing on parchment smoother.

Thankfully he at least knew how to read and write. His mum had taught him when he was 7 and his father wasn't home half the time then. Once the chart was done he stuck it to the wall above his bed with some old tape which was previously holding the two pieces of the chipped door of his wardrobe together.

This was indeed one interesting, if not eventful birthday he had ever had.

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><p>Tobias Snape had a not so pleasant surprise as he walked in for dinner that night holding a half drunk beer bottle. The table looked odd since it was very unusual to find it topped with a dish by the time he reached home. He saw that a small boy with black greasy hair was seated at the table too, another unusual addition because of which the table looked even more full than before and not only the extra food. After a little while, realization dawned upon the weakened drunk man's face.<p>

"Got that damned letter I suppose."

"Yes." answered Severus curtly.

Eileen was sitting next to him and she spoke up too,

"Yes Tobias he's got it, I've seen it. And if you don't give me money to buy his things, I shall get the money myself."

"Fine. Get it however you want to. Go work , earn it. Or wait; probably you're going to steal aren't you? You'll just point your damned stick at me and snatch it away from me, will you? Try me then. I said, he will not be going."

"Tobias, please. We've agreed not to send him to Muggle School, but this. He has to go. And if it makes you feel any better, he won't be around for ten months of the year. You could have the whole damned house to yourself with even me out of your way. Just let him go. Do _not_ resist."

On hearing his mum say that they would be happy and alone when he would have left to Hogwarts Severus wondered whether that's why she was really excited about his letter. But then he thought it better and convinced himself that she wouldn't have given him the books and advice and she was just doing so to convince his father who was in a horribly drunk state again and looked ready to start another fierce argument. But it looked like those few words had worked like magic.

His father's face was contorted with rage which had quickly subsided after the last few lines from Eileen. He seemed to be having a small battle with himself. Agreeing and sending Severus to Hogwarts would be like he had lost and had given in to magic. But if he did let him go the house would rid of that burden and he could just drink and drink and not worry about his son anymore, not that he had ever cared for him. But Severus knew his father had lost this argument because he didn't say anything else and throwing the beer bottle at Eileen which she diverted with a flick of her wand, he walked away to watch the television and did not even bother to eat.

That night was one of the rarest and best nights of his life for Severus. He had a proper dinner although it was only roasted chicken legs but it was better than nothing. And he was going to Hogwarts, his life was surely about to get loads better from now on. He glanced at the chart counting down to September 1st and sighed, there were still almost 8 more months till he actually left. Turning off the lights and pushing the letter back under his pillow, Severus fell asleep at the end of a brilliant birthday.

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><p><strong>So, this is my favourite chapter! Probably because I love the relationship Severus has with his mum. He doesn't really know whether she cares for him or not but he doesn't hate her, like he hates his father. I've always pictured Eileen as a mild woman who has been scared to use magic because of her muggle husband. I took a few ideas from JKR from Order of the Phoenix where she mentions Snape crying and his father yelling and beating up his mother, if you remember. <strong>

**Anyway, I hope you like it. The 5****th**** chapter will probably be small and vague but the 6****th**** chapter is going to be a treat. You'll see why, I shall not mention it! :) **

**Keep reviewing! I shall not upload the next chapter until I get enough reviews. I need inspiration people! :)**


	5. The lady from nowhere

**Another chapter! Enjoy! R & R!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: The lady from nowhere.<strong>

Two weeks had passed since he had gotten his Hogwarts letter and Severus Snape was feeling even more impatient than before. Time seemed to be teasing him. The days went on slower than a dead snail and as he got up every morning and stroked of a day from the month chart, his restlessness intensified. Spending his time reading books which were filled with alluring magic did relax him a bit but then again he fell into depression as he wondered whether his mum would get enough money for him to buy his school things, or would he have to give up his Hogwarts dream because he couldn't afford it?

His mother was nowhere to be seen since the day after his birthday. She left early in the morning and returned home just a few moments before his father returned. Hoping that she was doing something to earn money he hadn't bothered to ask her what she was up to. And having the house all to him for more than an hour everyday seemed to be a treat. He could do whatever he liked but there really wasn't anything to do in this god forsaken old house and the only relief he got due to the empty house was that he could eat whenever he wanted to.

The books that his mother had given him were ancient. Well they looked ancient, the parchment was very yellow and the text was a bit complicated for his understanding. Yet Severus enjoyed reading because it showed him that there were more curses than he could imagine to torture all those who deserved to be tortured, for instance, his father. There were curses to make people writhe in pain, to make them imagine they were rather dead than go through the kind of trauma, to make them go temporarily insane, to curse off certain body parts, to control their mind, to ensnare their senses and in the likes of that. And there were the not so potentially harmful ones like the simple hexes and jinxes which Severus was sure he could manage to perform the spells once he got his wand. There were jinxes to make you vomit, grow your teeth, ears, nose, and any body part for that matter out of proportion, to give them severe looking cuts which could be healed in an instant with the counter spell.

But the best of all was the book on brewing fatally dangerous potions. It had been his favorite book so far. He read it every day and at times without even meaning to, he started making mental notes on how he could improvise the potions. He learnt about all the various ingredients used in potions which surprised him a lot: bat livers, snake fangs, frog spleens, eyes of various creatures, horns, tail, and so many other not so common ingredients which he was sure would not be available in any common Muggle shop.

After a quick and rather unfulfilling breakfast Severus just propped himself up in front of his bedroom window and stared at the park. The park where he and Lily spent quite a few days together, talking about magic and Hogwarts. He wondered whether he'd ever see her again. It was then that he had noticed something odd. Had he blinked a second later and he would have completely missed it. A stiff lady had just suddenly appeared in the park, from thin air.

Severus thought he was just imagining it but that was not the only thing odd about the lady. Not only had she appeared from nowhere, but she was also wearing really unusual clothes, clothes only he rarely saw his mother wearing. She was dressed in long robes which were emerald green in color and her extremely lean and fragile looking figure was more perceivable because of them. She also wore a long pointed hat to match her robes and she walked away gracefully away from the park.

Deciding not to move from his place until she returned, of which he was surprisingly sure, he waited for what seemed like hours. Gazing around his room he saw that the date was January 30, time seemed to be playing with him. There was still a lot of time for him to enter Hogwarts. Usually he would have read right now, but not wanting to miss any slight moment that would indicate the strange lady's presence he just rested the temptation to read more. And indeed, she returned again. This time to Severus' astonishment, she glanced in the general direction of The Snape House and he was sure she had acknowledged his presence, and with one swift turn on her ankle she disappeared into thin air.

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><p>"<em>Lily, are you crazy? You know what he did to me."<em>

"_Yes Tuney, but I bet he didn't mean to. Let me just go talk to him now."_

"_Why? He's a freak! Don't."_

"_I need to ask him a few things. Just leave me alone."_

"_Ask him something? About that thing that happened in the morning?"_

"_Yes…"_

"_Mum won't be happy to see you be late for your own party. Bye."_

Severus heard light footsteps, a pair of them walking towards him and a pair of them running away aggressively. That was when he realized he had fallen asleep yet again on the grass in the park, and was woken up by Lily. He abruptly sat up straight, tried to dust of the grass blades off his coat and looked up to face the prettiest eyes green eyes in the world. She was staring at him intently, a million questions being asked and another million retorts being screeched through her eyes. Her delicate face looked slightly burdened but a whole lot excited. She was radiating joy from within her and Severus couldn't help but be inflicted by it, and smiled at her his widest and most true smile ever. It seemed like all that had happened in the little thicket of trees by the river back then had been forgiven and forgotten and they were back to being friends, or whatever it was that they were before.

"Lily!" smiled Severus. His voice was filled with such honest happiness that he felt a bit embarrassed by it.

Lily didn't respond but with a twinkle in her eye and a strong smile she pulled out a letter from behind her back and held it up to Severus' face. At once, Severus realized what it was and he was overjoyed. He probably hadn't felt this happy when he had seen his own letter, the letter from Hogwarts. And that was when another thought struck him.

"Oh! Happy Birthday Lily!" he gasped, and felt a bit ashamed at his empty hands which should have been bearing some gift, like normal friends do.

"Thank you Severus" blushed Lily as she handed over her letter to him.

The letter read:

_Dear Miss Evans, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Severus was extremely pleased that she was going to Hogwarts too, his life would change totally now. He'd have a friend to share his happiness and learn magic with in Hogwarts.

"This is wonderful. We _will_ be going Lily!" he exclaimed handing back the letter to her.

"Yes, it is amazing. I wasn't sure whether my parents would let me go. When Professor McGonagall gave the letter to my parents they were a bit reluctant to take it and once they read what it was they couldn't believe their eyes. At first they thought it was a very horrible prank, but anyone would have thought so too, you should have seen the Professor's clothes. They were a bit too strange than normal. It took a hell lot of time for Professor McGonagall to convince my parents and in the end when she couldn't talk any sense into them she called for Professor _DUMBLEDORE_!" Lily spoke a mouthful and then took a deep breath on saying the last words. It was like she was amazed and inspired by the man, Dumbledore.

Severus was listening to Lily speak; he was furiously concerned because he didn't want to go to Hogwarts alone without Lily. He wished her parents had let her go, but it finally looked like she was allowed to go because the tone of her voice had changed as she kept narrating her little morning story and she sort of seemed to admire Dumbledore. _Dumbledore_. Severus thought he heard the name somewhere when he realized that he was _the_ headmaster of Hogwarts. Now he was amazed. He also wondered why Professor McGonagall handed over the letter personally to Lily's parents and it wasn't sent by owl. Probably because she was a muggle-born. At the precise moment another thought had struck him, that lady who appeared from thin air, could she have been Professor McGonagall? Yes, definitely. Before he could ask Lily she continued her little version of her eleventh birthday morning.

"He's a brilliant wizard. He entered through the front door just moments after Professor McGonagall told us that she was inviting him here to speak with us. In a few words he got my parents convinced and they trust him with their soul now. He looks very talented too. I'm just so glad that I can go to Hogwarts now, with you. We can learn doing lots of magic. And we get wands as you said."

"Yeah! Oh Lily, I'm so glad too! And did Professor McGonagall wear long emerald green robes and a pointed hat to match them?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

Then Severus narrated his story of how she appeared from thin air in the middle of the park.

"I wish I could learn to do that too" sighed Lily, "won't it be wonderful to just go anywhere you want like that." She snapped her fingers and smiled wide.

"But Petunia isn't very happy about my letter. She hasn't spoken to be all day, except to stop me from coming to search for you in the park. She's pretty upset that she isn't like us."

"She can never be like us." Severus stated plainly but then he realized he shouldn't have said that. Lily didn't seem to notice though.

"Today my mother's throwing a nice little party for my birthday and I am so excited. I want to tell all of my friends about Hogwarts but I'm not supposed to! Professor McGonagall told me. It's just very disappointing. I can't share it with any of my friends."

"Yes. I know how it feels. But that's probably because I don't have any friends" said Severus without even thinking. He didn't mean to say it out aloud, he was more like talking to himself but Lily Evans didn't miss out on that.

"I am your friend Severus." she said feeling truly sorry for him and earning enough to be his friend that it was evident in her face. This seemed to brighten up Severus a lot more.

"Really? Thank you."

She smiled. "Did you get you letter?"

"Yes. I turned eleven on January 9th."

"So did you get all your school things then? How is Diagon Alley ?"

"I haven't gone yet. My mother doesn't have enough m…" and he stopped. He couldn't tell her that they didn't have enough money. Or maybe he could and she'd understand just like when she understood his pain about his parents' fight, so he just told her "she doesn't have enough money. I have to wait till she can get enough for my school things."

"Oh! Okay."

She understood, and for that Severus was grateful.

Lily looked very pretty today, thought Severus. She wore a new dress. Her short and frilly frock that dropped down until her knees was white and had a delicate pattern embroidered in red thread complementing her lush red hair. She wore a tiny bracelet that had a few green stones embedded in them, matching her brilliantly green eyes. It was one of the rarest moments when Severus had a chance to look at her so closely.

They kept talking for some time. Severus told her about his mother's room and the wonderful spells he had read about and the potions. It was getting quite late, almost lunch time.

"I have to go Severus, my friends will be arriving soon."

"Okay. Have fun."

Saying that he could almost hear the sadness in his voice, it had been a wonderful day so far and he didn't want her to leave. Lily noticed it too so she asked him,

"You can come for my birthday party too, will you?"

Severus was overjoyed that she had invited him, but what could he say. He didn't think it would be appropriate to show up in such a clean and dignified party with his mucky little self. And his mother wouldn't approve, besides his father would be furious. But he so desperately wanted to go. He needn't tell his parents that he went, he could come back home really quickly before either of them get back from work. There was another problem, he didn't have a gift and Lily's parents obviously didn't know him and he was sure they wouldn't take kindly to his appearance at their home.

"Will you Severus?" Lily asked again.

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><p><strong>How's the new chapter! Do you think Severus will go for the party?<strong>

**I'm very disappointed and discouraged that I'm not getting enough reviews and I'm seriously reconsidering continuing this story. So until I get 3 new reviews after this chapter I will not upload a new chapter.**

**If you don't know what to review on, let me help you, just answer these questions.**

**#1 How are the chapters? Are they too long or too short or just perfect? **

**#2 Do you think I should write a Lily's Point of View at times too?**

**#3 Should I continue with the story?**

**#4 Do you think Severus will go for the party?**

**Please do review!**

**xxxxx**


	6. A bloody birthday

**I know I haven't updated in a log while but here it is. Finally a new chapter. Enjoy.**

**POV = Point of view.**

**I included a Lily's POV in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Please review.**

**And to everyone who reviewed till now THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU MAKE MY DAY GO BRIGHTER.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. JKR is god.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6 : A bloody birthday.<strong>

"Will you Severus?" Lily asked again.

"Okay."

"See you at 5 then!" and she ran home, her footsteps lightly falling on the fresh green grass.

Severus sighed heavily and went back to Spinners End and entered his depressing house. None of his parents were home yet. It was only 3 in the afternoon so he decided to wait for his mother to return from work and ask her whether he could go to a birthday party. It was the first time he was invited to somebody's house, the first time he could visit another home, a friend's home. Meanwhile he decided to search for something in his house that could come close to decent which could be used as a birthday gift for Lily. Wondering whether he could find something plain enough but at the same time magically different from the Muggle world he stepped into his mother's room. He was happy that his mother had left it open since he didn't know the spell to open it.

Yes, his mother's room. He loved the dark green wallpaper and the Slytherin flag pinned above the bed's headset. He decided to look in the huge wardrobe that he had peeped in last time. It had been filled with so many magical things he could actually feel the extraordinary aura near the wardrobe. He tried opening it but it didn't budge. His heart sank. His mother had told him that she had a special spell on the wardrobe so that his father would not accidently open it. Trying to think of a way to open it he decided it was time to use his magic. At least to try controlling his magic in a way that could be useful to him. He closed his eyes, held the knob on the cupboard and tried to focus all his thoughts into the knob, wishing it to open. He stood like that for not more than 3 seconds before he heard a small click and the door of the wardrobe opened wide.

Severus couldn't believe his luck. He was so enthralled by the power of magic that he decided to right down a few things which he could think of doing using magic, like for example produce some food. He quickly rummaged through all the stuff in the wardrobe and all he could set his eyes on looked like nothing but a pile of unused trash or were bizarre items and he had no idea what they were. He digged deeper and deeper. He realized the cupboard was a lot bigger inside than what it looked liked from the outside. His mother must have used another enchantment on it. So far magic seemed so enthralling to him he just couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts to learn more.

Finally, just as he decided to forget about Lily's party because he could not find any suitable present for her his eyes fell on a pile of four books stashed in a corner covered in a layer of dust. He took them and and saw that they were books on simple spells, probably from his mother's school years. There was nothing about any dark magic or evil spells in them. He could definitely gift one of these books to Lily. There were two books "Basic Spells for Lost Wizards" Volumes 1 & 2 written by Hexena Bottomburn. There was a tiny book called 'Eerie Plants and Where to Find Them" by Parsley Firefox. The only other book was a small book which was light blue in colour with bright purple- silver words on it which read "Charms for the Young Witch" by Orchid Arkwright. He decided this was the best gift for Lily. His mother would not even notice that the book was missing, it was small and something obviously his mother would not be interested in, "charms".

He suddenly heard the room of the door bang open and heavy footsteps behind him, the air reeked of booze. He quickly stuffed everything else back in the cupboard and with the little book held tightly in his left hand he banged the wardrobe door open with his right hand hoping it would stay closed and turned just in time to watch his father raise the glass bottle in his hand which came crashing down on his head. Something warm came dripping down his forehead, onto his hooked nose and just before he fell down on the floor unconscious he saw his father's face which had no emotion in it staring back at him.

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><p><em>*Lily's POV.*<em>

The day since the morning had been perfect. It was the perfect birthday any eleven year old girl could ask for. And no ordinary eleven year old girl would have gotten the best gift that she had gotten today. She, Lily Evans, was sent a letter from The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A letter which stated that she was a witch and she was enrolled in a school that would teach her _magic_. It had made her sister Petunia very upset and angry. She didn't want her sister to go away. She didn't want her sister to be special, to have something that she didn't have. Lily was really upset at the way Petunia had reacted. But today, this day no one could spoil it for her. No one could spoil her eleventh birthday.

It was 4:30 in the afternoon and the guests would be arriving soon. She had called four of her close friends from school. The non magic school she went to with her sister. She was all dressed up and ready for the small party to being. Her father had bought her a pretty little frock which was sky blue in colour with a dark blue colour frill near the neck and at the fringe of the frock. It stopped just above her knees and puffed up at the waist making her look like a play doll. Her mother had baked a delicious chocolate cake which was iced in white lilies, her namesake.

What she was actually looking forward to was not the party but to see whether Severus would show up. If he did, she would introduce him to her parents and he'd tell them about magic too. Then they wouldn't be that scared about it would they. She knew her mother was found of children and she would love to speak to Severus. And if Lily told her mother about his father and mother's fights he would gain a lot of sympathy but she wasn't sure whether Severus would like that, the sympathy. He was a very independent and different boy, very different from all the other children of their age and the difference was _not _the magic.

Lily's mother had entered her room with a glass of chocolate milk, Lily's favourite.

"Come here Lil, I'll do your hair."

Lily loved it when her mother did her hair. Her mother had a great talent of styling up her sister's and her hair for any party or any outing and it brought a lot of difference to their appearance. She sometimes braided it smoothly till the end with a crown of lilies on top or she curled it up in a bun and let lose few strands which fell lightly on her face to the side. Lily wished she was half as brilliant as her mother when she grew up.

Today her mother had a dark blue satin hair-band waiting in her hand, the same colour as the frill of her frock. She braided Lily's hair so smooth and intricately which left Lily mesmerized.

"Mom, I invited Severus Snape from Spinner's End for the party."

She turned to look at her mother's expression. She looked a bit confused but then composed herself and said,

"Why would you do that dear? I remember Tuney complaining that he was a mean boy."

"No mom he isn't. Tuney is just jealous because he can do magic too. He is a wizard and he got a letter from Hogwarts too."

"Is he really? A wizard too? Well, that is interesting. I would like to meet him as well."

Her mother smiled and Lily knew she meant it. Her mother would indeed love to meet Severus. Probably because she wanted to find out what kind of people go to Hogwarts.

"And Lil dear, do his parents know nothing about magic like us?"

"No, his mother is a witch. His father doesn't know magic. In fact he ha.." but then she suddenly stopped her words. She didn't want to tell her mother that Severus's father hates magic or that he frequently beats his son because of it.

Her mother had not noticed her stumble. She was deep in thought. After a while she said,

"Well then, I think I better speak to Severus' mother one day and find out more about Hogwarts. And Lil dear, come down soon, the guests might be arriving any second."

Lily stood still. Her mother was going to talk to Severus' mother. That wasn't something she would hope for. Severus would get really angry or upset she guessed. He would be irritated. She thought so because she saw his reaction to Tuney, a non magical being. And she was sure Severus' father would not like it if any person visits his house eager to find out more about magic. She would have to warn Severus before hand and also convince her mother not to talk to Severus' mother.

She descended down to the living room and saw it decorated delicately in balloons and loose ribbons. Obviously the work of her father. The decorations had been the same since her first birthday. All the photographs in her birthday album looked the same because of the decorations. The background was the same and only Lily and her family changed in the pictures. It was fun actually but she enjoyed this little family tradition of the decorations. Her father was sitting on the sofa and going through the albums of her previous birthdays when he heard her footsteps and looked up.

"My little princess! How fast you have grown! I can't stand the thought that you'll be leaving to live in a boarding school some place far off."

"Oh dad, I'll always be with you, in here." she said pointing at her father's heart and jumped onto his lap. Her father laughed and hugged his youngest daughter stifling a tear.

Her mother walked in and on seeing the scene in front of her she laughed and said, "It looks like your sending your daughter to fight a war. Enough with the emotions already."

* * *

><p>"Let's smear cake on her face!" shouted a rather tiny cheeky girl who's black hair was braided into two plaits and her eyes were filled with excitement. She was Lily's closest friend from school.<p>

And as if on cue everyone rushed forward to get a bit of cream onto their fingers and rushed to Lily to smother her face down with the cream.

"No! Stop it you!" screamed Lily. She was giggling and she loved the little happy fest going on. After 5 minutes of screeches, giggles and cake hands all over her face Lily emerged from the living room to enter the bathroom and stare at her face. It was covered with a lot of chocolate. It was the icing from the cake, the cake so beautifully baked by her mother. It was a butterscotch flavoured cake with a rich dark chocolate icing: Lily's favourite combination. Just like the tradition of the similar decorations every year, the flavours of the cake were fixed too, only the design or the icing stems were different.

Lily was really happy. Her party was going on perfectly as she had expected it to. This was going to be her last birthday party here with these friends of her. She was going to go to Hogwarts from this year and she probably wouldn't be home for the birthdays to come by. She wanted it to be memorable, and so far it indeed was a surprisingly fun party. But there was a small uneasy feeling nagging her in the corner of her tiny brain. Severus hadn't come. He had promised that he would. Well he didn't exactly promise but he had said 'okay' didn't he? His mother had probably not let him she wondered. But then the uneasy feeling that something had happened to him was still lingering about in her mind. Why?

She then realized, they weren't exactly friends were they? They never mentioned it out loud. They never shook on it. They never met up and played or had fun like how normal friends do. And after the day he had did that thing to Tuney, she never really told him that she had forgiven him and that she wanted to be his friend. Maybe that's why he hadn't come, because they weren't really friends.

Her heart sinking a bit she washed up her face and was drying her face on the towel when she heard it.

A scream.

Another one.

A couple more shrieks.

And then came Tuney's voice, "IT'S THAT FREAK"

Lily ran to the living room and came to face what she thought was the worst scene she had ever seen in her life, and probably the worst she would ever see ever again.

Severus Snape was lying down unconscious on the cream coloured carpet of her living room. His head was cracked open and covered with blood. There were a few shards of glass pieces stuck in his greasy hair which seem to have been hammered into his skull. His skin was pale white and his eyes closed. Everyone was pointing at him looking scared and were whispering.

Lily's eyes darted towards his left hand, the fingers of which were holding a tiny book.

"Mom, it's that freak Lily has been talking to. She..she invited him today."

Ignoring her sister Lily walked towards Severus, kneeled down and put a hand on his left hand. Suddenly his eyes opened. The black eyes which were usually devoid of emotion had brightened up at the sight of thee girl in front of them and a slight glimmer of happiness darted across them. And before he fell down unconscious again he looked straight into Lily's eyes and said "Happy Birthday Lily" and he made a gesture towards the book in his hand. Lily silently took the book and as she looked back to thank him he had fallen unconscious again.

She stood up suddenly and said, "Mom, call an ambulance." Her mom nodded and went away to make the call. No one seemed to have noticed that Severus had given her a book. They were all too bisy with his head. Her father said, "We ought to call the police."

"No. They'll only make a big deal out of it. We can handle this." Saying so Lily looked at all the other girls in the room and said "Let's all move up to my room."

There was a sudden rush of movement and everyone emptied the living room immediately. Lily was left alone with her dad.

"Dad, he's Severus Snape and he's a wizard. He will be going to Hogwarts too with me next year. You cannot call the police because they do not know about magic, as Professor Dumbledore told you. "

"But.."

"No dad, please listen. Let's go down to Spinners End and inform Severus' mother."

"Okay, let's leave immediately."

They quickly informed Petunia that they would be back in a jiffy and asked her not to get tensed and to keep all the other girls calm. Her elder sister obliged and then they left.

On reaching the Severus' house, which turned out to be a very small and old torn down place and had kind of a stale smell around it, probably because of all the age-old moss growing out front, Lily knocked thrice and waited for a reply.

There was a screech, a sound of a glass breaking and a bang before the door opened.

A tall thin lady, with the same sallow skin and black eyes as Severus opened the door and had a very surprised look on her face. It probably wasn't very often that someone came knocking on her door. She was dressed very unusually but in the same manner as Professor McGonagall had. She wore long robes and a pointed hat. One of her hand was concealed behind her back as though hiding something.

She stared at Lily and her father for about one whole minute before speaking out in what she probably assumed was a polite enough tone.

"What do you want?"

Lily replied, "You must be Severus Snape's mother."

On hearing this she looked even more surprised. "How do you know who I am? And where is Severus?"

"He's at my house and he is covered with blood. It looks like he's had an accident. Can you please come by at once."

"SO THAT'S WHAT THAT BASTARD DID! HE TRIED TO KILL MY SON. I AM GOING TO KILL HIM"

Shouting and swearing non-stop she whipped out her hand which was concealed behind her back holding a long pointed stick which Lily assumed to be a wand. She was fuming and her face was pale white. She turned on her heal and walked back inside leaving the door wide ajar. Lily could see her going turning right into a room and swearing a bit more. She then heard her shout a few words which Lily couldn't make out but there was a lot of red and purple light emerging from the room.

Then the lady came striding out of the room walked straight outside the house and closed her door, waved her wand at the door in some complicated cross muttering something under her breath and turned to face her two spectators.

"Now that asshole won't be able to come out of the fucking house. Take me to my son. NOW."

Lily's father seemed to be a bit intimated by this lady and he didn't utter a word. Lily took the lead and said "Follow me."

On reaching the Lily's house she saw that there was an ambulance waiting outside. When she went inside she saw two doctors examining Severus, and noting things down on a notepad.

"Who are they?" asked Severus' mother.

"Doctors. They'll take care of him. They'll take him to an hospital and heal him alright." said Lily.

The expression on the lady's face seemed to be confused. "Doctors? You mean healers don't you?"

"Healers?" asked Lily.

"Oh never mind" she said to Lily and then she strode towards her son, kneeled down next to him, took his head into her lap and looked up into the faces of the doctors and said in a stern soft voice. "Let me do my work here, don't talk." The doctors were shocked, they didn't know who this lady was but they unwillingly obliged and just stood by watching.

The lady took out the same thin stick that Lily had seen, her wand, and did a few complicated waves and twists and kept muttering words under her breath, her eyes screwed up in concentration. What was happening as a result of this was truly magical. Lily had never seen anything like it and so did the doctors. Everyone in the room, her father, her mother, her sister, and the doctors were just staring at the scene below them, not able to believe their eyes. All the blood on Severus face and head seem to be draining back into his body through the cuts. The shards of glass flew out and fell down on the carpet next to his head. There was a faint rise in the colour of his skin slowly and finally he opened his eyes.

"What just happened?" asked one of the doctors.

Severus' mother ignored the question and looked at Lily's father and asked "Has anyone else seen Severus like this?"

"Yes a few of Lily's friend's. They are upstairs."

"Get them down here."

She then turned to Lily, "You're a witch aren't you?"

Lily was surprised, how did she know?

"Yes, yes I am."

She nodded curtly. "Did you get your letter?"

"Yes"

"So you'll be going to Hogwarts with Severus."

"Yes."

All the girls had come into the living room and everyone looked surprised to see that all the blood had disappeared.

"I am going to do something so that you won't remember what happened here. Once I am done, go back to your homes immediately. "

She turned to Lily's mother and father, "should I make you forget too?"

"No, leave us and Lily and Petunia."

"Okay."

Then Severus' mother turned to the two doctors and the four girls who had come for the party, pointed her wand one by one at each of them and said "Obliviate"

There was a momentary blank expression on their faces and then as they recovered they didn't even seem to acknowledge the presence of Severus and his mother and left the house quietly.

After everyone was gone, Severus' mother turned to the four members of the Evans family and said, "I am Eileen Snape, mother of Severus Snape and as you already seem to have seen, I'm a witch and he's a wizard. I am sorry that you had to have this small terrible encounter today. But may I ask what was he doing here?" she pointed to her son.

It was Severus who spoke first, "Mother, Lily invited me to her birthday party. And…and so I came."

"Like this?"

"I think we'll leave. I hope you don't narrate this terrible encounter to any mug…I mean any one non magical."

She then turned, with Severus hand in hers and walked towards the front door.

"Mother wait!"

Severus then turned, went over to Lily and said "I'm sorry I ruined your birthday. I hope you like the present." He said looking down at her hand.

Lily had forgotten that she had been holding it all this while.

"Thank you, Severus."

She smiled, genuinely.

And then they left.

"Well it definitely had been a memorable last birthday at home." said Lily to herself before turning to face the three remaining members of her family staring at her with a very shocked and confused explanation.

"I think I'll go to bed. Good night."

She kissed her mom and dad, who sighed and told her she owed them an explanation the next morning and hugged her sister who just shrugged.

She went up to her room and looked at the book that Severus gave her. It said "Charms for the Young Witch" by Orchid Arkwright. She smiled. It was a book about magic.

"Severus owes me an explanation" she told herself before turning of the bedside lamp and going to sleep.

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><p><strong>Now that this chapter's done. Let me ask you how was it? I haven't re-read it or anything so excuse my mistakes if any. i'll probably edit it in a few days, once i re-read it and stuff.<strong>

**Was it boring? And I know I haven't updated in a while but I have been so busy with my university admissions and stuff.**

**Please do review. It gives me inspiration to write. I haven't had many reviews from you readers yet.**

**The next chapter will be up soon. Probably in 10 days. And let me tell you I think you'll love it. **

**P.S It has a lot more magic in it. Good and dark. **

**Reviews are like chocolate cake. **

**Until next time, which I hope will be sooner.**

**Love,**

**MsSnape**


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